From a collection 5 years in the making, we are delighted to present the new hand-drawn map of Sydney created in collaboration with illustrator Jenni Sparks! Since originally mapping London, Jenni has gone on to creatively map Paris, Berlin, New York, San Francisco - and now Sydney! 
After 4 months of intensive visual research, Jenni has been able to capture to the essence of what each Sydney neighbourhood has to offer. Everything from the local architecture, coastal coves, street food, typography and graffiti has been hand-drawn in Jenni’s effortlessly humorous style. We worked closely with Jenni throughout the project, tackling the mammoth task of researching Sydney together. Jenni visited Sydney in March of this year to better understand the city, to chat with the locals and gather first-hand visual research. Then once Jenni returned to England, she was able to put her research into practice and meticulously hand-draw central Sydney. 
“I met people from all different walks of life but the one thing in common that I learned was just how much everyone loved Sydney and how willing they were to help me show it off in art form. I got driven around lots of different places and the locals would show me places that they’d lived in or been big parts of their lives. I loved hearing all the different life stories and different experiences people had had in the city - after all when you’re drawing a map of a city, you’re really drawing the collective lives of all kinds of different people and that’s why I love what I do so much.” - Jenni Sparks, illustrator. 
The map covers the central areas of Manly, Coogee, Newtown, Bellevue Hill, Waverley, Rose Bay, Vaucluse, Balgowlah, Chatswood, Lane Cove, Woolwich, The Rocks, Balmain and more. One of our favourite aspects of the map is the vibrant Sydney coastline. This was a new challenge for Jenni, and we love how she has managed to capture a real sense of life and movement on the coastline. 
A companion map of Melbourne will also be launching soon, and all pre-orders will come signed by Jenni. You can check out the Hand-drawn Map of Sydney here, and see what others are saying about the map in these features by The Urban List and Man of Many.
After 4 months of intensive visual research, Jenni has been able to capture to the essence of what each Sydney neighbourhood has to offer. Everything from the local architecture, coastal coves, street food, typography and graffiti has been hand-drawn in Jenni’s effortlessly humorous style. We worked closely with Jenni throughout the project, tackling the mammoth task of researching Sydney together. Jenni visited Sydney in March of this year to better understand the city, to chat with the locals and gather first-hand visual research. Then once Jenni returned to England, she was able to put her research into practice and meticulously hand-draw central Sydney. “I met people from all different walks of life but the one thing in common that I learned was just how much everyone loved Sydney and how willing they were to help me show it off in art form. I got driven around lots of different places and the locals would show me places that they’d lived in or been big parts of their lives. I loved hearing all the different life stories and different experiences people had had in the city - after all when you’re drawing a map of a city, you’re really drawing the collective lives of all kinds of different people and that’s why I love what I do so much.” - Jenni Sparks, illustrator. The map covers the central areas of Manly, Coogee, Newtown, Bellevue Hill, Waverley, Rose Bay, Vaucluse, Balgowlah, Chatswood, Lane Cove, Woolwich, The Rocks, Balmain and more. One of our favourite aspects of the map is the vibrant Sydney coastline. This was a new challenge for Jenni, and we love how she has managed to capture a real sense of life and movement on the coastline. A companion map of Melbourne will also be launching soon, and all pre-orders will come signed by Jenni. You can check out the Hand-drawn Map of Sydney here, and see what others are saying about the map in these features by The Urban List and Man of Many.
